Legacy 100512

The eleventh anniversary of the United States’ declaration of war on terror is an appropriate time to step back and consider the legacy of its longest battle.  (The war on drugs is longer but with less cultural impact.)

This is a war of difficult to measure intangibles.  Over 6,500 Americans lost their lives on battlefields and another 50 thousand were wounded.  Surrogate armies lost about half that number, still an exorbitant cost to small nations.  The cost to local Afghan, Iraqi and Pakistani forces are also high and may never be accurately known.  Bare numbers do not consider soldiers who later died as a result of battle exposures nor the increased rate of suicides among soldiers.

Estimates of casualties among innocent civilians range into hundreds of thousands (all causes).   The U.S. Military own estimates admit that collateral damage (its euphemism for killing of bystanders in pursuit of its objectives) is in tens of thousands. Victory is now claimed on the basis of the execution of just two men: one a head of state and embarrassing former ally and the other a philosopher, figure head also a former ally.

The military reluctantly concedes that its policies failed in both Iraq and Afghanistan.  The designated enemies are now a far stronger than before the invasions. Both countries are destabilized and may fracture into post intervention civil wars.  Under covert cover, regional dissent groups, armed and funded during the war are spreading destabilization widely.

In the immediate wake of the 911 attack poorly drafted legislation and executive orders were issued.  According to government investigations, under these programs average Americans are targeted. A recent U.S. Senate report states that one multibillion dollar program produced little valuable intelligence on terrorism. "The ... investigation could identify no reporting which uncovered a terrorist threat, nor could it identify a contribution such fusion center reporting made to disrupt an active terrorist plot," the report said.  It went on to state that agencies used the authority to infringe on civil liberties targeting groups deemed dangerous: i.e. ACLU, abortion rights activist, war protesters etc.  Because of the mixing of federal and states’ monies the Government is unable to determine just how much money has been spent on this non-productive program.

In wasting money DOD can not be out spent by another government agency.  Since the war began the Army has spent over five billion dollars on camouflage equipment, and must spend as much again to replace current inadequate material.  Not to be out done, but spending less, the other services decided they too must have unique new uniforms.  This follows a multibillion-dollar program to replace the “WWII tin pot” helmet with one that wouldn’t stay on soldiers’ heads and they couldn’t even fight in it, also replaced during the war.

Bureaucracies are self-generating and when given the freedom of vague restrictions and unlimited funds they will abuse intended mandates.  Now citizen surveillance can extend to every call, tweet and email.  Anti-terrorist software can now track innocent senior citizens or children down any street because a terrorist may be anyone.  Trained to repel terrorist armies, local police now shoot first and teaser unruly schoolboys in classrooms. 

The ultimate intangible is that radicalism has become universal.  Legislators attempt to erode constitutional protections.  Governors ignore constitutions and legislatures attempting to rule by edict.  The military now has authority for domestic spying on the American public, arrest and hold incognito indefinitely any citizen.  To the military disgust this act still requires the signature of its civilian commander in chief.  The commander of the Special Operations Command attempted to bypass civilian control, stating he already had enough authority to attack anyone, anywhere in the world without any civilian oversight in the name of National Security.

Domestic terrorism has become a norm where any large gathering is a possible target for the disenchanted.  Law is breaking down and protections becoming more reactionary.  The intangible is that the people have come to accept loss of privacy and freedoms in the name of necessary actions, which do not protect.

Extremism is not restricted to one region, nationality or religion; it takes root in any fertile soil.  The war on terror plowed the ground and spread the seeds.  Now watch it grow.

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